The Season of Advent: A Time for Spiritual Renewal

And a Time of Waiting.

We are about to enter the season of Advent – – the roughly four weeks leading to Christmas Day. Most of us know this is an extremely busy time, maybe even a frenetic time – – with crowded stores and streets, too many events and obligations, and quite often in our work a year end crush of deadlines. For many of us, this is by far the most stressful time of the year.

This can be especially true for those of us who lead busy, or particularly stressful, work lives. The added pressure of the season can really increase the emotional load that we are carrying.

But Advent can also be a time of waiting, of reflection, and of laying the foundation for spiritual renewal. It can be a special time to turn our attention towards God in the hope of connecting with something deeper than ourselves.

If we can just get past the busyness of the season, the stress and distractions, and if we can spend some time in personal prayer and reflection, Advent can be a profound time of spiritual renewal.
Within the Christian tradition, Advent has generally been thought of as a time of waiting. By that we also mean a time of preparation, usually thought of as a time of prayer and reflection, in the hope of spiritual renewal.

The sense of waiting and anticipation is intensified by the time of year. For Christians, there is the anticipation of Christmas Day and the celebration of the birth of Jesus. For humanity as a whole it is a time when the old year is nearing a close and a new year is coming. It is also a time, at least in the northern hemisphere, when the days become shorter until we reach the shortest, darkest day of the year near the end of Advent, and then the days start becoming longer, with more daylight, as we start the journey towards spring and rejuvenation.

So how then are we to wait and prepare?

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Each new podcast episode deals with Spiritual Renewal in Our Work Lives. Topics include finding purpose/work as a calling, spiritual practices that can help us in our work, dealing with workplace stress and other forms of workplace toxicity, spiritual aspects of leadership, and building a flourishing work life. We invite you to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play, or listen on our website. You can also subscribe to email updates when we release new material.

The time has come for spiritual renewal. We hope you will join with us on this quest.